1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer systems, and more particularly but not exclusively to techniques for presenting messages to end-users in a computer network.
2. Description of the Background Art
Advertising serves the same purpose on the Internet as in radio and television. In radio and television, advertising allows listeners and viewers to have free access to programming. Similarly, on the Internet, advertising provides end-users free access to services and web sites. For example, a web site may display advertising along with web pages. Revenue from the advertising not only generates profits, but also pays for the maintenance of the web site. As another example, a software developer may provide free utility programs in return for the right to deliver advertising to end-users. In essence, revenue from the advertising helps defray the cost of developing and maintaining the utility programs.
On the Internet, an advertisement may be displayed in a variety of presentation vehicles. Examples of presentation vehicles include pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, web browser windows, and the like. Typically, a single presentation vehicle is employed to display a single advertisement. For example, one advertisement may be displayed in one pop-up, while another advertisement may be displayed in another pop-up. An end-user may click on an advertisement to learn more about the product being advertised. Clicking on an advertisement may result in the end-user being directed to a web site of the product advertiser. An end-user may also choose to close a presentation vehicle containing an advertisement if she is not interested in it. For example, an end-user may choose to close a pop-up by clicking on the pop-up's close button.